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.(No Model.) A

. N. A. RANSOM.

APPARATUS FOR UARBUBETING GAS. No. 275,268. A Patented. Apr. 3,1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

NEWMAN A. RANSOM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE CHICAGO GASAPPARATUS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR CARBURETING GAS.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,268, dated April3, 1883.

Application filed January 22, 188i.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, NEWMAN A. RANSOM, ofChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Uarbureting Gas;and I do hereby declare the foilowing to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure l is aview showing the invention arranged for operation; Fig. 2, a front viewof the meter, carburetingeoil, and feeding devices; and Fig. 3, an-endview of the same.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures denote the sameparts.

My invention relates to that class of apparatus which are designed tosupply hydrocarbon to ordinary illuminating-gas for the purpose ofenriching the quality and increasing the illuminating-power of thelatter; and it hasfor its object to so improve such apparatus as toenable them to supply to the gas under all circumstances a uniformquantity of hydrocarbon, therebyinsuring a light of given quality,whether one or any larger number of burners are used at the same time ina building provided with the apparatus.

Heretofore various attempts have been made to accomplish the objectaimed at by me, but all have proved abortive and inefiectual. \Vhere agiven number of burners were to be used at once not much difficulty wasexperienced in securing a supply of carbureting-iiuid "3 5 justsufficient to produce the desired quality of light; but when such givennumber of burners was increased or diminished the proper relativequantity of the fluid was not supplied to the varying flow of gas-thatis to say, when less than the given number of burners was employed, toomuch of the fluid was supplied, and when a greater number, less than therequisite quantity, resulting in the first case in a smoking light, andin the second case in the failure to realize the expected saving. Inperhaps the most prominent of the pro-existing 'kindspfappmatusere valveor float of a gas regulator or governor is connected to a valve or cookin a pipe through which the hydrocarbon liquid is supplied, and theoutlet of the (No model.)

governor leads to the lower end of a carbureting-coil, while thehydrocarbon-pipe leads to the upper end of said coil. With such anapparatus it is claimed that the supply of hydrocarbon can beautomatically controlled by the 5 flow of gas, so that the hydrocarbonshall at all times be supplied in a quantity sufficient for the volumeof gas; but by careful investigation I have found that such claim iswithout foundation, for by reason,of there being a direct flow ofhydrocarbon from the hydrocarbon-reservoir to the carburetor through thesupply-pipe the pressure on the hydrocarbon varies as the amount offluid contained in the reservoir is increased or diminished, andconsequently while the flow of gas may open the valve of the governormore or less, and thus open more or less the cock in thehydrocarbonpipe, yet the quantity of hydrocarbon allowed to pass throughthe aperture of the cock will not be uniform under all circumstances,but will vary as the pressure varies. Moreover, the cock in thehydrocarbon-pipe, in order to be worked by the governor-valve, has to beso loose as to leak and pass thefiuid into the carburetor when no gas atall is being consumed.

In another form of apparatus existing prior to my invention a meter hasbeen interposed in the gas-supply pipe, and hydrocarbon has beensupplied to a carburetor interposed in the said pipe between themeterand the burners by means ofa cut-off mechanism operated by themeter and located at the bottom of a hydrocarbon -reoeptacle arrangedabove the carburetor. In this apparatus, however, the 8hydrocarbon-receptacle being above the carburetor, and owing to thenecessary looseness of thejoints of the cut-off, due to the employmentof so feeble a motor as a meter, more or less of the hydrocarbongravitates and works its way into the carburetor, even when the cutoffis closed, thus at times unduly enriching the gas. .l.he same or equallyobjectionable features are to be found in other old kinds of apparatus.

With full knowledge of these prior inventions and of their failure to dothe work intended to be done by them, I have made my present invention,and by practical testl have found it to answer all the requirements.lll'y I00 invention operates on an entirely new and different principle;and it consists primarily in the combination of a gas-supply pipe, ameter or other mechanism arranged in said pipe and given a certainamount of movement by each foot or other quantity of gas passing throughsaid pipe, a carburetor into which the gas discharges after passing themeter, a feed-receptacle containing the carbureting-fluid, and devicesreceiving motion directly from the meter, and operating to positivelylift the carbureting-fluid and discharge it into a pipe leading to thecarburetor; secondly, in the combination of a gas-supply pipe, a meteror other mechanism arranged in said pipe and given a certain amount ofmovement by each foot or other quantity of gas passing through saidpipe, a carburetor into which the gas discharges after passing themeter, a feed-receptacle containing the carbureting-fluid, and afeeding-wheel operated directly from the meter, and having bucketswhich, as the wheel revolves, dip into the carbureting-fluid, and,rising, discharge their contents into a pipe leading to the carburetor.

In the accompanying drawings, which represent one embodiment of myinvention, A is an ordinary carburetor consisting of a coiled iron pipeadapted to be located in the basement of the building to be lighted, andof a capacity sufficient for the amount of gas likely to be used in saidbuilding. 0n the top of this carbureting-coil is placed a bed orplatform, 13, upon which is mounted a gas-meter, O, and a fecdbox, D.The meter does not differ from those in common use, except that theshaft which carries its registering-train is extended out through thecasing toward the feed-box, and carries a gear, 0, at or near its end.The gas is conducted to the meter from the street-main through aservice-pipe, c, and after passing through the meter passes down a pipe,0 into the lower end of the carburetor, as shown.

The feed-box D is preferably made of metal and in two sections, 61 d,secured together by screws or other means, with a suitable packinginterposed between them to form a tight joint. Mounted within thisfeed-box, upon one end of a shaft, d which has its hearings in one sideof the lower section, is a feed-wheel, D, preferably of dish-shapedform, and having attached to its concave side, near its periphery, aseries of small buckets, d. The outer end of the feed-wheel shaft isprovided with a gear, (1 which is adapted to engage with and derivesmotion from the gear 0 on the extended meter-shaft. Stuffing-boxes areprovided in both meter-case and feed-box where the respective shaftspass through. Attached to the lower section of the feed-box, oppositethe concave side of the feed-wheel and within the periphery of thelatter, is a chute or hopper, 0 to the smaller end of which is connecteda pipe, 0 leading to the upper portion of the carburetor. This pipe 0*is bent into curved form, as shown, so as to form a trap. A pipe,

A, leads from'the upper end of the carburetor to the burners in thebuilding.

E is a tank or reservoir for containing the carbureting-flnid, locatedat any safe distance from the building, but-preferably, if in a city, inthe ground under the street. A small pipe, 0, extends up to or above thesurface of the street for the purpose of enabling the tank to be filledwhen necessary. An influx-pipe, 1*, leads from the tank or reservoir Eto the feedbox 1), and a suitable float and cut-off, G, is provided insaid influx-pipe for the purpose of maintaining the carbureting-fluid atall times at a uniform height in the feed-box. The cutoff and float maybe located in the feedbox, if desired.

The operation of the apparatus thus constructed will be readilyunderstood. When one or more of the burners in the building are lightedthe gas at once begins to flow through the meter, thereby setting inmotion the registering-train shaft and the feed-wheel shaft gearedthereto, as aforesaid. As the feedwheel rotates, its buckets rise fromthe hydrocarbon in the feed-box, filled with the liquid, and, as theyturn over, spill their contents into the chute or hopper c, from whenceit is conducted through the pipe 0 into the upper end of thecarbureting-coil, and, passing down through the latter, becomes absorbedby the upwardly-flowing gas coming from the meter. The trap in the pipe0 prevents the rising of the gas from the carburetor into the feed-box.

It is obvious that as the amount of gas consumed is greater or less themovements ofthe meter, and consequently of the feeding-wheel, will bequicker or slower and the amount of hydrocarbon supplied to thecarburetor correspondingly increased or diminished-4t result not beforeaccomplished. Therefore when one burner only is being used the metermoves quite slowly and causes the feed-wheelto move at a correspondingrate of speed and supply just enough of the carbureting-fluid to thecarburetorto make the desired rate of saving and give the desiredquality oflight; but when the IOC J number of operating'burners isincreased fifty the movement of the meter is accelerated a fifty timesand the feed-wheel caused to feed fifty times the quantity ofhydrocarbon, and sc on through all the changes in the number of burnersin use.

In order that the supply of hydrocarbon may neither be too great nor toosmall for the quantity of gas, itis only necessary to regulate the feedof the feed-wheel. This may be effected by changing the gears whichconnect the meter shaft to the feed-wheel shaft, so as to make '1 thefeed-wheel rotate faster or slower upon a given movement of'theregistering-train of the meter, or by employing a larger or smallerfeed-wheel, or one with buckets a greater or less distance apart, aswill be readily under- ;1:

stood.

For the purpose of indicating when [DOW hydrocarbon is being supplied tothe carburet ing-coil than can be absorbed or taken up by the gas, ashort pipe, (I, is connected to the lower end of the coil, with a glassbulb or reservoir, a, attached to it. An accumulation of hydrocarbon inthis bulb will indicate an excessive supply and call for a regulation ofthe feeding devices.

1 preferably insert a glass section in front of the feed-box and anotherin the box or chamber containing the float and cut-ofl which controlsthe height of hydrocarbon in the feedbox, in order that the inspectionof the workings of these parts can be readily had without opening themand exposing the hydrocarbon to the air and incurring the danger of firewhile so doing.

The feed-wheel, chute, and float and cut-0E may all be arranged in onebox, if preferred.

I have shown herein but one embodiment of my invention; but it isevident that various modifications may be devised without departing fromthe principle of the invention.

The invention is not only available in carbureting illuminating-gas, butalso in carbureting atmospheric air and other fluids.

Having thus described my invention, Ielaim as new- 1. In an apparatusfor carbureting gas, the combination, substantially as described, of theA gas-supply pipe, the meter arranged in said pipe, thecarburetor, thepipe leading from the meter to the carburetor, the feed-receptacle forcontaining the carbureting-fluid, and feeding devices, as described, forpositively lifting the carbureting-fluid from the feed-receptacle anddischarging it into a pipe leading to the carburetor, with saidlast-mentioned pipe,and mechanism connecting the feeding device to themeter, whereby the former is driven by the latter.

2. In an apparatus for carbureting gas, the combination, substantiallyas described, ofthe gas-supply pipe, the meter arranged in said pipe,the carburetor, the pipe leading from the meter to the carburetor, thefeed-receptacle for containing the carbnreting-fiuid, and thefeeding-wheel in thefeed-receptacle, having buckets for dipping up andlifting the carbureting-fluid and dischargingit positivelyinto the pipeleading to the carburetor,with said last-mentioned pipe, and mechanismcounectingthe teedwheel to the meter.

NEWMAN A. RANSOM Witnesses:

A. MAOLEAN, D. MAGLEAN.

